The Pile Gate is the name for the outside and inside regions of this historic structure. The first Renaissance arch was built as the semicircular tower in 1537. There are two bridges that lead to the gate across its moat complete with a stone bridge and a wooden draw-bridge worked by means of a windlass, chains and counter-weights. When lifted up, it closes the entrance to the city.

The previous single-spanned stone bridge, with stone seats on its sides, was built in 1397 by John from Siena. It looked like today’s inside bridge of the Ploc¹e Gate. In 1471 the moat was widened and a new bridge on three spans was constructed according to the projects of the State architect Paskoje Milic¹evic´. Between 1533 and 1537 one of the spans was destroyed and a wooden draw-bridge added instead. The inside Pile Gate with a Gothic arch and double posts pass throughout the main city wall. It was built in the form of the previous Fishmarket Gate in 1460 and has stood in place of an older gate mentioned in the Statute of 1296.

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Started in 1987, RIT Big Shot is a nighttime community photography project produced by the School of Photographic Arts & Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA. No images on this site can be reproduced without permission of the project.